Two GOP state lawmakers said they want Ohio to more strictly regulate surrogacy, including banning citizens or residents of “foreign countries of concern” from it altogether.
Right now, the Ohio Revised Code says very little about surrogacy, which was really only legalized through a 2007 decision by the state’s highest court. Rep. Tex Fischer (R-Boardman) said that’s an issue on its own.
“We just need to have some guardrails, right?” Fischer said in an interview Friday. “In Ohio, there’s nothing, and that’s of grave concern.”
But under House Bill 993, which Fischer and Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) introduced Monday, parents and their potential surrogate would have to execute a surrogacy contract. That contract would become null and void, however, if any of them are under 18 or citizens or residents of some countries.
Other bills under consideration this legislative session would subject both businesses and certain non-citizens, hailing from countries defined as adversarial, to bans on buying protected properties. China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela are considered foreign adversaries, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.
Those bills, House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 88, include a long list of protected properties, like anything within a certain radius of either military facilities such as bases or “critical” infrastructure, from water treatment facilities to railroads to electric generation facilities.
“It’s clear that Ohio, because of all the great things we have going on here, the great assets, is also a bit of a target,” Fischer said.
Mathews said HB 993 is motivated by the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirming birthright citizenship through its June decision in Trump v. Barbara. “And we have seen these (instances), where women are hurt, and in the United States, very generous birthright citizenship has been abused,” he said.
The legislature is on recess until November, and has very few scheduled sessions before it adjourns its two-year session in December.
